Safety attachment for well-drilling tools.



J. C I THERIOT. SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR WELL DRILLING TOOLS.

APPLICATION FILED .IUNE 30. |915.

Patented J au. 16. 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J.- Wer/'af' I. ...uw

Mnner.-

1. c, THERIOT. L

SAFEVIY AUACHMENT FOB WELL DRILLING TOOLS.

z sainssneer 2.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30,1915l 1 f v Patented Jan.-

, useful Im rovements in'Safet i STATES PATENroFFIoE.

.uns o. rmio'i, or rm, ennemis. Smm arracmmmron mame Toons.

To all 'whom it may concern.;

Be it known that I, Jamie C. Timmor, a

`citizen "of the United States, residing at automatically signal the operator when the `drill bit `becomes broken or otherwise disf connected from the drill shaft.

Another object of the invention is` to provide a device which will cause the pump to buck or to completely stop in event that the drill bit becomes twisted or broken from the drill stem or shaft.

A further object of the invention is to pro- `vide an automatic means for stopping the circulation through the pump and for causing the water toback u into the pump so as to warn the operator o the danger of losing j the drill bit or the part carried thereby.

A still further object of the'invention is to provide a valve which willautomatically close upon the descent of the drillshaft, sltifould the drill bit becometwistedor broken A further ,object of the invention-is to provide a device, which when the drill shaft. is broken will let the operator knowrthat thel shaft is separated from the drill bit and `isA .held by the safety so that the lower part can be pulled up' for repairs.

A still further object of the inventionis to provide a device which will release the automatic valve as soon as the pipe is lifte,d,

the water when the-,drill is in operation. A

thereby continuing the circulation of water. With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the nvel combination and arrangement of parts which will be' fully set forth in the followingspecification and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view illustrating this improved device as it would appear when in. use and undernormal conditions. Fig; is f speculation of man ment". I Patented Appunti mea :une ao, isis. liu-in fn. zum.

illustratedin Fig. 4.

by the numeral 2 and comprise fdriii head design Jaa. 1e, 1917.

an enlarged longitudinal sectional` view a portion of ,thedevice illustrating Y'in the several parts. Fig. 8 is a view in section of the drill head, and the .-4 is an enlarged fragmentary view ofkthe" lly shaft showing the method o f Joining two of the sectie fandFig. 5 is a view illustrating the water tight'connection between the drill shaft and the conductor pi f i ferring now Vto the drawings b characters of reference,the numeral 1 dsignates the drill shaft of the device comprising a plurality of tubes of the ordinary type used in connection' with well dril1ing,lwhich are the couplers best n connected at their ends ese couplersv are the cylindrical-bodies l3 provided with ex terna] screw threadsy4 and formed at one endof each of the bodies is a Vsuitable enlargement ,fgrovidedwith internal screw threads.. e enlargement 5 vis arranged to receive the' external y screw threaded end of one of .the tubes, while the threaded body i 3 extends'into an internally screwthreaded ysocket; 'carried by one of the tubes. l

Secured to the lowermost end of the low`- ermost section of drill shaft or tube is a ated generally by the numeralf comprising the body 8 having inter'iial. screwthreads formed therein and provided with the hollow exv Sl-having the tapered inner bore 10 fifo'rmcdf with screw threads by means 'of i which the drill design prises 'thefthreaded stem 12, which tapers ated generally by the, iiumeit'all 1111s heldin placa` This drill com` `.90

toward puter endendthe blades 13,/the* lower endsof which are flared as at 14. The .l

4tapered stem 12 is arranged tobe threaded, into thetafiered bore 10 and the stem is pref` erably ho ow toa'llw for the circulation of suitable extension 15 is formed on the drill head 8 at'the end` opposite the ei'xteninternal screw threads 16`which engage the Threadedinto the body 8 is a hollow pipe sion 9V and this extension 15is provided with' ibo Y threads attheglowermost end of the lower Fsliaft section hereinbefore referred to. y

opening 18 and having formed at one end the reduced extension 19 which is formed with a longitudinal openin the walls of y A. suitable screw thread 21 is formed at he these pi a suitab e 'comprises the hollow tube or pi free end of the Yextensionl 19 and is arranged to receive the nut 22 and lock nut 23, which form abutments` for the upper end ofthe rotatable sleeve 24, which isl tted on the extension 19. This sleeve 24 is rovided withv an enlarged bore 25', in whi the packin 26 seats. Suitable external screw threads 2 are 'formed at the up er end of the sleeve and are rarranged to orm aconnection for the conductor pipe, which will be more fully hereinafter described.

The conductor pipe hereinbefore referred to is best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 5 and sections 28, to the lowermost end of which is connected the sleeve 24, by means of the threads 27. The upper end of the uppermost of e sections 28 has connected thereto sleeve 2 9, which is held in place by means of screw threads and the set screw 30 and threaded on the upper end of the sleeve 29 is the bushing 31 provided with an internally screwthrea ed bore 32. Extending through the bushing and supported by the 'threads 32 therein is the externally screw threaded adjusting pipe 33, the lower end of which extends into the pipe 28, while the upper end is formed with the valve seat 34 and extends into the valve cage which will be more fully hereinafter described.

to each shaft 1 is the cage designated by the nu- 45, meral 36 comprising the pi I lower end of the pipe 37 is a bushing The uplper end of this .bushing is rovi Supported on suitable transversely extending rivets 35, which project at right angles other within one of they sections of 37 havin formed therein a plurality o longitudina slots 38, which are arranged at mnety defrom each other and threaded intotlsi; having the shoulder 40 formed at its lower end, which abuts the lower end of the pipe. ed with t e valve seat 41 and form in the i gfpseaid bushingare a plurality of opemngs 42, which allow the circulating water to flow down the interior of the drill shaft 1 and into the adjusting pipe 33, from whence it p m.; into the conductor pipe 28 and thence through the tube 17 into the bit 11.

In order to prevent the water from flowinto the shaft'. 1 below a predetermined height, there is provided the packing member best illustrated in 5, comprising the sleeve 43 having the y the cpposite ends of which are formed with the internal 37 and bushing 39 near the upper end is relatively short and provided with in- `bores 45 and 46 respectively. The bore 45 ternalscrew threads 47 into which the shaft 1 is threaded. The bore 46' is relatively long and is provided with internal screw threads 48 in which the section above the' shaft below the sleeve 43 will be kept clear of any water. l

'ln operation it will be seen that should the drill head or any part of the drill' shaft twist off or break so that the bit becomes disconnected therefrom, the shaft will lowerl slightly, thereby lowering the cage 36 and permittmtg the o ening 42 to be closed by seatin o the bal 41 against the valve seat 34. t will thus be seen that the circula- `tion of water down through the shaft 1,

openings 42 and adjusting pipes 33 into the connector pipe 38 will ue" stop d so that the water above the ball 41 will backup into the pumps, thereby causing the same to buck or stopping the action thereof entirely, thus the signal to the o rator, .so that 't e pro er steps may be ta en to continue the dri ing operation. Under normal working conditions, when the drill is actin poperly, it will be noted that the ca wi sup orted in such a position that t e ball 41 w1 1 be suspended above thevalve seat 34 and the openings 42 will be cleared so that the circulation through the drill and through the well will be maintainedY without interference. l

While in the foregoing `there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that such changes may be made in the com.

1. A -devi of the character described in.v

' cluding a hollow drill shaft, a drill bit mounted at the lower end of the shaft, a valve cage intermediate the ends 4of the shaft, a valve within the cage a conductor pi within the shaft below the valve, the valves controlling the ilowof water throu h the conductor pipe and means to allow e valve to automaticall close u n accidental disconnection of the rill bit om'fthe shaft.

2. A device of the character described including a hollow shaft, a drill head at the lower end of the shaft, a drill bit'carried by the head, a conductor pi swivelly connected'toithe drill head an disposed within the drill shaft, a valve cage intermediate the isc 1,212,848 l f f B ends of the shaft, a pipe connecting the dental disconneotion ofthe drill bit i. from lower end of the valve cage `with the conthe shaft. x 10 ductor pipe, a valve within the cage,V a valve In testimon' whereole I aiiix my signature seat at the upper end ofthe pipe connectingv in presence o two witnesses.

5 the ca e with the conductor pipe and means i *I @JAMES C. THERIOT.

to hol the valve out of engagement with the Witnesses: n valve seat under normal working conditions C. L. KEITH,

and allowing the valve to operate upon acci- JOHN H. FowLER. 

